‘Holy Grail of Atari Games’ Sells for $10,000

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Red Sea Crossing brings big money at auction.

By Andrew Goldfarb

Rare Atari 2600 game Red Sea Crossing sold for $10,400 at auction this weekend. Sold on GameGavel, the cartridge is referred to as “the Holy Grail of Atari games” by the seller and “was not even known to exist" until he discovered it.

Red Sea Crossing was created by an independent programmer in 1983 and was discovered by the seller at a garage sale in 2007. “It turns out this game was not even known to exist until I found it,” the seller wrote in the auction’s description. “An AtariAge member used the internet to track down the programmer and I spoke with him and got some more information. He said from what he could remember he advertised it in a local religious magazine but couldn't remember the name. In August of 2011 another AtariAge member found the original ad laying to rest that the game was indeed released in 1983.”

The auction began at $100 on August 29th and ran through September 9th, ending at $10,400 overall. According to a GameGavel spokesperson, the auction makes Red Sea Crossing “the most expensive loose Atari 2600 cart ever sold at auction to date.” “Loose” is a term used to describe a cartridge without its original box or packaging.

The identity of the winning bidder hasn’t been disclosed, but this is certainly an important milestone for classic game collectors. Just recently, a similarly rare Final Fantasy NES prototype hit eBay, though that auction was ultimately removed.

While little other information is known about Red Sea Crossing, the seller did include the following advertisement from the October 7, 1983 issue of Christianity Today, which may be the only marketing ever released for the game:

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.